I apologise in advance for asking such a basic question but I've been trying
to understand some basic principles of X-ray crystallography.
One such principle that still baffles me is what phase information is.
In ordinary light microscopy I have read that this information is not lost,
and I presume that this is how you then get a visible image, although I'm
still not exactly sure how.
Following on from my original question is how does heavy atom replacement
give you the necessary information for solving a crystal structure? Why
doesn't the original diffraction data work?
I've tried reading around the subject but I just seem to have a mental
block.Any information / simple analogies / useful references will be
gratefully received.
Rob Leach, Ph.D.,
School of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology,
University of Leeds,
LEEDS, LS2 9JT